Rapids Have Working Hours
From May 10 until May 26
From 10.05 to 26.05.2024, in the Small Exhibition Hall of Zuzeum Art Centre, POST’s Interim show Rapids Have Working Hours will be open for viewing. The exhibition will feature works by 8 artists from the interdisciplinary visual arts specialization MA POST.
Next thing I know, I’m falling and everything around me turns to froth. I’m moving steadily, down a gradual slope, slipping through a passage so narrow I wasn’t sure I would make it out alright. The mouth of the Whirlpool closes, the rocks look on, their crests slowly chip away.
Rapids tend to form in newer streams, with water flow that is straighter and faster than in older streams. Softer rocks in the streambed erode, or wear away, faster than harder rocks. This process is known as differential erosion. The result of differential erosion is that as the streambed wears away, the stronger rocks remain and eventually begin to break up the flow of the stream. The many tiny waterfalls they create make the slope of the stream more steep.
The safety of a section of a river is measured by the class, or level, of its rapids. The class of a rapid determines how difficult it is to navigate using a kayak, raft, or other vessel.
● Class I: Small waves, no obstacles.
● Class II: Medium waves, no obstacles.
● Class III: Many waves of different strengths, many obstacles, narrow passages.
● Class IV: Many strong waves, many dangerous obstacles, whirlpools.
● Class V: Constant strong waves, constant obstacles, whirlpools, fast currents, some waterfalls.
● Class VI: (also classified as U, for “unraftable”) Constant strong waves, constant obstacles, whirlpools, fast currents, steep waterfalls.
Rapids can be important to the health of a stream system. The water splashing over rocks captures air in bubbles. This splashing, called whitewater, leads to more dissolved oxygen in the water. The oxygen is useful to fish, insects, and bacteria in the water, and in turn to the ecosystem around the stream. [1]
POST is an interdisciplinary master’s specialization which is based on ideas of art in context. The programme seeks to explore and examine how it is possible to study art today, while being simultaneously in Eastern and Northern Europe, a region with different borders characterised by a changing environment and a rich experience regarding the forced implementation and collapse of global ideologies. Taking into account the cultural, historical, and geopolitical contexts, and the artistic processes attached to them, we are located in an environment of unique experiences. MA POST can be perceived as an open study space for various ideas and experiments, following the zigzagging path of contemporary artistic practice.
Participating Artists: Laura Aizporiete, Krišjānis Beļavskis, Katrīna Biksone, Kristers Krūms, Lauma Muižarāja, Dena Doloresa Sircova, Ieva Viese, Spāre Vītola.
This exhibition is part of the collaboration between MA POST (Art Academy of Latvia) and Zuzeum Art Centre.
[1] Stanley, M., National Geographic, “Rapids”, (2023), viewed 02.04.2024, accessible: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/rapids/